by Stephanie Lee

 

In times prior, online “identities” were much more fabricated where people could feign artificial personalities and take on new or different personalities through avatars and screen names.  These days, online identities are being taken more seriously as extensions of the actual human self in a digital space. The ED 870 Capstone assignment of this website is a prime example of such real identity extension. 13 years ago, I was a teenager typing away online with ridiculous screen names and embarrassing “identities”. Now as an adult, and parent to boot, I am posting my resume and personal reflections in that same space.  What is unique, and strange in its uniqueness, about the Internet is its seemingly infinite digital space and its allocation for controlled histories where things can be added or deleted per webmaster’s whim. For myself alone, I can attest to the termination of 10 or so screen names, e-mail addresses, and chat identities that were all mortifying remnants of my teenage years. In this special space we share worldwide, at any moment, I can begin anew at the click of a button. How interesting and alarming it is to be afforded the power of short histories and temporary identities.

 

My experience in the MAED program has shown me that there is a significant gray area within the Internet that somehow allows for academic spaces to become more casual and lax with regard to discussions and feedback. The requirement to type our thoughts and responses to our classmates and receive feedback from our instructors demonstrates how each individual controls the pace of asynchronous discussion. Some instructors provided outstanding individualized feedback and discussion points pushing me to think deeper and more critically while others simply followed a rubric and wrote the occasional “good work.” Student postings were useless for the most part as I spent most of my time scanning over the babble of, “Well, if you ask me, I think…” or, “It was super exciting to…” which provided absolutely no substance. For serious academic online learning to progress forward, it is necessary for nonsensical typing to be reprimanded and that more resources be spent toward course structures in line with the self-paced learning format. 

 

The advent and increasing implementation and use of online learning will challenge my future views of education as I am now raising my infant daughter. Even after completing this program, I am still resistant to digital technologies because I fear there is too little real human interaction. Nevertheless, I will continue to learn with and about technology in order for my child to succeed in the next generation of learning. This, however, is a stopping point for me for online degrees. If I pursued a further degree, it would be an on-campus graduate degree. Going forward, I would like to increase my skill levels in various languages and eventually begin to tackle additional languages. I plan to learn languages through individuals, classes, and printed books. Although I have downloaded “apps” for language learning and signed up for a Livemocha.com account, none of these methods proved remotely as effective as in-person, fully engaged lessons or conversations.

 

Web-based technologies remain quite the mystery for me.  Familiarizing myself with Weebly through CEP 813 and Wix in ED 870 introduced new ways to work pre-existing cloud software to fit my needs. These website assignments required me to learn to manipulate programs with limited functionalities. What I have concluded is that Wix has several “bugs,” or code errors, which make it impossible to complete the electronic portfolio assignment seamlessly. For example, a few buttons never work even after remaking new buttons. Roadblocks such as this one within Wix make me question my decision to challenge myself with a new website rather than revamp the Weebly website I had started in CEP 813. In addition, varying obstacles such as un-clickable hyperlinks make Wix an unsuitable program for website making. I would be interested to learn about HTML and computer coding so that I would be enabled to make my own website one day. My preference is to have a program with aesthetically pleasing colors and functional design elements readily available, but neither program proved to have both.

 

The MAED program has changed how I think about learning and how I will focus my learning in the future. How I learn is clearer whilst the determination of learning societies and opportunities is now much more complicated. The freedom to pursue any learning avenue from a computer is compelling. I plan to learn more about website making and editing. And, I plan to look into online discussion moderating as it seems a good fit for me.

 

 

Download a  PDF version of this essay here.